German Patent Application No. DE 10 2007 016 864 A1 describes a brake system for a vehicle, the brake system including an electromechanically boosted braking element and a pedal simulator, which is used for conveying a haptic braking feel to the driver in a usual manner. The brake system is manufactured as a brake-by-wire system, in which the movement of the brake pedal is measured sensorially and actuating signals for actuating an electric brake actuator in the braking element are generated by a control unit. A mechanical through-grip device is situated between the brake pedal and the braking element, the mechanical through-grip device being decoupled in the normal case, however, due to the design as a brake-by-wire system, and only being used in emergencies, such as a failure of the electromechanical brake boosting, in which case the force exerted on the brake pedal by the driver is used as the actuating force for the braking element. On the other hand, in the normal case, the pedal force generated by the driver is not mechanically converted into a braking force.